England, 5 Caps
England B, 3 caps
England U23, 4 caps
Cov Kid Reg Matthews played his early football for City's nursery club, Modern Machines. He signed full terms for Coventry in 1950 but such was the consistency of goalkeeper Alf Wood and his successor Peter Taylor that it was not until 1953, at the age of 21 that Reg made his first-team debut. The next three years were like a dream for him. After less than 30 league games he was selected for the Football League representative side and England under 23 caps quickly followed.
In April 1956 he became the first City player to play for England, and the first Division 3 player, when he appeared at Hampden Park against Scotland. In his five international appearances he was never on the losing side, but after being dropped from the England team early the next season the pressure was on him to move from lowly City to a bigger club. Financially stretched City resisted the pressure until Chelsea offered £22,500, a world record fee at the time for a goalkeeper.
In retrospect it was not a great move for Reg. He was never chosen for England again and in five years at Stamford Bridge no trophies were won. He moved to Derby County and made almost 250 appearances for the Rams. He was a brave and agile goalkeeper who dominated his penalty area in an era when 'keepers had little protection from referees. Reg was a very popular man and after retiring from the game he worked at Massey Ferguson with several of his old teammates.
Penalties faced (12 - 2 saved)
1953-54
19 August 1953 v Aldershot A, Division Three South, scored - Davie Laird
1954-55
20 November 1954 v Northampton Town A, FA Cup 1st Round, saved - Felix Staroscik
4 December 1954 v Northampton Town A, Division Three South, scored - Felix Staroscik
29 January 1955 v Queens Park Rangers A, Division Three South, scored - Conway Smith
5 March 1955 v Exeter City A, Division Three South, saved - Angus Mackay
1955-56
12 November 1955 v Shrewsbury Town A, Division Three South, scored - Russell Crossley
27 December 1955 v Millwall H, Division Three South, scored - Alex Jardine
11 February 1956 v Swindon Town A, Division Three South, scored - Bobby Edwards
10 March 1956 v Brighton & Hove Albion A, Division Three South, scored - Jimmy Langley
1956-57
25 August 1956 v Crystal Palace A, Division Three South, scored - Arthur Proudler
10 September 1956 v Norwich City H, Division Three South, scored - Johnny Gavin
10 November 1956 v Brentford H, Division Three South, scored - Ron Peplow
ENGLAND, 5 caps
1955-56
14 April 1956 Scotland 1-1 England, British Home Championship, at Hampden Park
9 May 1956 England 4-2 Brazil, friendly, at Wembley
16 May 1956 Sweden 0-0 England, friendly, in Stockholm
26 May 1956 West Germany 1-3 England, friendly, in Berlin
1956-57
6 October 1956 Northern Ireland 1-1 England, British Home Championship, in Belfast
ENGLAND B, 3 caps
1954-54
23 March 1955 England B 1-1 West Germany B, friendly, at Hillsborough
1955-56
29 February 1956 Scotland B 2-2 England B, friendly, in Dundee
21 March 1956 England B 4-1 Switzerland B, friendly, at Southampton
ENGLAND U23, 4 caps
1954-55
19 January 1955 England U23 5-1 Italy U23, at Stamford Bridge
8 February 1955 Scotland U23 0-6 England U23, Shawfield Park, Glasgow
1955-56
28 September 1955 England U23 5-1 Denmark U23, at Portsmouth
8 February 1956 England U23 3-1 Scotland U23, at Hillsborough
FOOTBALL LEAGUE REPRESENTATIVE MATCHES
1954-55
16 March 1955 Scottish League 3-2 Football League, at Hampden Park
1955-56
19 September 1956 League of Ireland 3-3 Football League, in Dublin
9 November 1955 FA XI 2-2 The Army, at Newcastle
Matthews was selected for the annual game against the Scottish League in 1956 but had to pull out through injury.
